Overcrowding is the biggest problem at the jail [Letter]

The recommendation of a Maryland legislative commission to spend $533 million to replace part of the Baltimore City Detention Center should not be a priority in fixing the problems at the jail. A far more important goal would be to reduce overcrowding at the jail more quickly ("Lawmakers call for replacement of Baltimore jail," Dec. 11).

The incarceration rate in Baltimore City, according to a 2010 Sun report, was 6.3 per 1,000 residents, making it the second highest rate in the country after New Orleans. By comparison, the incarceration rate was 5.0 in the District of Columbia and 4.7 in New York City around the same time.

Moreover, in 2009 a report by the Pew Charitable Trust concluded that incarcerating fewer nonviolent offenders would make the city no less safe.

A corrections officer and a gang leader are headed back to the playland where their convoluted romance began ("Couple are sentenced in city jail scandal," Jan. 15). Taryn Kirkland, a corrections officer, had a tryst with Steven Loney, a Black Guerrilla Family leader. Now, ironically, they are headed...

I have no sympathy for Derrick Jones and other employees at The Baltimore City Detention Center who allowed themselves to be corrupted by the Black Guerrilla Family ("Jail supervisor, National Guardsman sentenced to 20 months in BGF case," Feb. 27).

Say What? According to The Sun's front-page story, "Ex-gang leader gets 12 years" (Feb. 10), a long-time Black Guerrilla Family leader found guilty of murder in 1997 and attempted murder in 2009 as well as initiating, orchestrating and recruiting inmates, guards and jail service workers to bring...

The sudden resignation of Gary D. Maynard as secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has huge implications both immediate as well as a few years down the road ("State public safety and corrections secretary stepping down," Dec. 10).